Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, except characters with unrecognisable and pretentious names like Amilee, or Foofoo or something stupid like that. Don't sue me! I can't pay you any way, so MEH! grumbles

A/N: Okay - heya, this is really quite short I guess, but I expect chapters will get longer as they go along. I'm not going to strike ye down and burn you on pitch forks if you don't review or if you flame me lol, (my little captive slave here Legolas might tho ;) lol) but any reviews are appreciated. It's a little crappy at the mo, so I wouldn't blame you if you don't read anymore lol – I'm hoping it'll get better

Legolas: Arggggh! Burn ye all on pitchforks! ) dances around menacingly

"Geldersed has always been a pleasant village, where people are considered to be poor enough to not merit title, but respectable enough to be genteel. It is a village highly esteemed by our King, Eomer, and is regularly visited by him." Read Amilee.

"Yeah, this is a laugh! 'Respectable'?! Ha!" The girl laughed and folded up the paper.

She played with a wayward curl that had fallen in front of her face, and smiled sweetly to the woman who stood looking exasperatedly at her from behind a stall, hands on hips. Amilee shoved the paper roughly into her cloth bag.

"Thanks for the paper Gen, I'll get my father to pay for it on the tab, okay?" And before the woman could protest she ran away from the stall and out of sight behind buildings.

The village of Amilee's birth, Geldersed, on the outskirts of Edoras, had the reputation of a respectable and joyous village, in which the people of Rohan could feel safe and secure in the comfort of their community, and mingle with the larger city of Edoras. Geldersed, however, with all its 'pleasantness', needed little time to begin to pick out the flaws, as with all places, as its face value was never the reality of it. A haven for drunkards and troublemakers, disguised by the mask of people who loved nothing more than a good party or festival, and nothing seemed to be more looked forward to than the approaching wedding.

Amilee shut the front door behind her, and shouted out, "Dad, I'm back, I got your paper."

She stepped into the modestly furnished room and placed the crumpled paper onto the stone table in the centre of it. "Dad?" No answer. "Hello?!" Nothing. "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!" She yelled, laughing playfully.

Finally her father came to the door, staring at her with an amused, disbelieving look on his face.

"Anyone would think you were a wild cat Lee! Would you have people believe I raised you an imp?" He laughed at her and walked over to get his paper.

Amilee's smiling face changed to a look of seriousness as her father reached the table.

"Erm...Dad," she began, "I had Gen put the paper on your tab, but..." She trailed off, not able to find the right way to go about saying it. He paused to look at her, his face lightly tinged with strain. She tried again, "...I erm, don't think we can keep doing this - Gen can't keep giving us stuff we haven't paid for."

No longer able to meet her eyes, he bowed his head and busied himself with the scrap of paper on the table.

"Dad...?"

He glared suspiciously at the mangled scrap in his hands and realised that it was in fact his paper. He growled exasperatedly, and held the crumpled paper to her face.

"Lee, look at it! It's a mess. Its nearly unreadable!" He laughed disbelievingly as Amilee grinned sheepishly.

"You're such a child, Lee," he joked, adoringly. Her smiling face warmed him, and he felt a little lighter. To him Amilee was the sun, and when she went away, his winter would come.

Their laughter faded, until a heavy silence weighed down on the room, and father and daughter were left standing, the mood swiftly darkening.

"...Dad...Gen's tab...something must be done." Whispered Amilee, words so low as if afraid of what they might mean.

"I know, I know," he murmured, that tensed look returning to his wizened face. He had begun to feel the weight that burdened him, and Amilee saw it breaking him, the strain caving him in. She saw it in his darkening features, his stooped body, his aging and withered voice that was once so proud. She was watching him expire and she was the one that would finish him.

And the thing that terrified her most, was that she did not know if she had the strength to do what would save him.

"I'm sorry Amilee." He heaved a sigh and his voice shook slightly, shoulders sloping, his face in shadow. "I'm sorry that I haven't been able to look after you like I should. And I'm sorry that you have to bear the burden of my mistakes."

He knelt down to look her directly in the eyes, and pulled her desperately to him, his voice low as he spoke.

"Amilee, you still have a choice," he rasped in despair, "you don't have to do this. My time is spent, but you have the rest of your life; please don't spend it paying for what's left of mine."

She looked at him solemnly, age showing in those deep chocolate eyes.

"Lee, please...we'll find another way..."

But Amilee had already considered all this. She had spent days thinking desperately of 'another way'. She could think of nothing except what had been offered to her, and new inside that this was all she could do to save his life. Doubtful thoughts plagued her of whether she had strength enough to go through with it, of how she might hate her life, but she new that if her father died life would hold nothing for her, and it would not be worth living anyway. No, there was no other way; she must accept her fate.

"There is no other way. I won't let you die. You're the only thing I care about – you're all I have."

"And you are all I have. That's why I cannot let you throw your life away like this."

Was that what she was doing? Was she really throwing her life away? She couldn't let thoughts like these stop her. This was the right thing to do, she was almost sure of it.

"You cannot sway me on this," she said firmly with as much certainty as she could muster.

She looked down at him, knelt before her, big brown eyes meeting soft grey ones. Her father sombrely took to his feet, and turned from her towards the door, and paused. His voice, when it came, was flat.

"Is this your final word?"

"It is."

He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. This was what he had been afraid of.

"So be it."

And he moved swiftly out of the room, leaving Amilee frozen to the floor, her gaze following her father until he disappeared from view, the sound of his fading footsteps resounding in her ears.

She couldn't help but think on whether she had made the right decision. Surely there was no other way. Her body felt numb, and her mind ached with the anxiety she felt for what was to come. As she lifted a trembling hand to her face, the finality of what she had just done hit her heavily. In two days time, she would no longer be free. She would no longer be a child. She would be married.

A/N: Okay, well its not much but it's a start, and if any of you guys reading now (assuming anyone reads this lol) actually understood the vague ramblings that is my writing, and still want to read more (fools!) then next time I update I'll do a fun session of getting to know you (or the characters lol) :) hehe and I thought my primary school days were over...

Kestrel

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